Effect of St. John's Wort on Hot Flash Score as Recorded in a Daily Hot Flash Diary From Baseline to 4 Weeks [ Time Frame: Baseline and four weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

The hot flash score is calculated as the frequency of hot flashes times the severity of the hot flashes averaged over a week.

Frequency is the number of hot flashes in a day. Severity is coded 0=None, 1=Mild, 2=Moderate, and 3=Severe. Score for each day is frequency times severity. Weekly score is averaged over seven days.

Score ranges from 0 to infinity

Lower scores are better.

Estimation of Toxicities While on St. John's Wort [ Time Frame: Six weeks following baseline (four weeks of active treatment and two weeks of follow-up) ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]

Toxicities are quantified using the standard NCI toxicity criteria. The outcome is the percentage of participants who experience one or more toxicities. More detailed information on toxicities is found in the adverse events section.

Effect of St. John's Wort on Quality of Life (MCS) [ Time Frame: Baseline and four weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Quality of life was measured by the SF12 (MCS and PCS subscales). First we'll summarize the MCS.

SF-12 is the short form Health Survey (a short version of the SF-36) developed for the Medical Outcomes Study. It is managed by QualityMetric.

MCS is the mental health component of the SF-12. A normal population has a mean of 50 and a SD of 10. Higher numbers represent better mental health.

The range is 0 to 100.

Higher scores represent better mental health.

Effect of St. John's Wort on Quality of Life (PCS) [ Time Frame: Baseline and four weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Quality of life was measured by the SF12 (MCS and PCS subscales). Now we'll summarize the PCS.

SF-12 is the short form Health Survey (a short version of the SF-36) developed for the Medical Outcomes Study. It is managed by QualityMetric.

PCS is the physical health component of the SF-12. Normal population has a mean of 50 and a SD of 10. Higher scores reflect better physical health.

The range is 0 to 100.

Higher scores represent better mental health.

Mood is Measured by the POMS Short Form. [ Time Frame: Baseline and four weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

POMS stands for the Profile of Mood States This is a short version of the POMS (17 questions).

Each question is scored on a 0 to 4 scale. The POMS score is the sum of the responses to the 17 questions. Responses to some questions have been reversed to make higher responses better.

Determine the effect of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) on general health-related quality of life and mood at 2 and 4 weeks relative to baseline, and during the 2 week post-treatment phase in these patients.

To evaluate changes in average weekly hot flush scores and duration over course of study.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Patients receive oral Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) three times daily for 4 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients complete a daily diary of the frequency, severity, and duration of their hot flashes, and complete quality of life and mood assessments every 2 weeks during study treatment and continuing weekly for 2 weeks after completion of study treatment.